#fredzinneman

Just finished watching the movie Day of the Jackal (1973) which is based on the novel of the same name by Frederick Forsyth. The film was directed by Fred Zinneman.

In The Day of the Jackal, a number of French officers have united as the are in opposition attempting to French President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for their attempts at a coup are due to de Gaulle's granting independence to the former French colony of Algeria. They believe that de Gaulle is a traitor to the memory of those French soldiers who gave their lives in battle against the Algerian insurgents. They hire a foreign hitman to assassinate de Gaulle. What follows is a cat and mouse game between the hitman who goes by the Jackal (Edward Fox) and the authorities led Commander Lebel (Michael Lonsdale.)

In reality there was an attempted coup by French generals known as Putsch d'Alger or Coup d'État d'Alger which took place in April 1961 while the Algerian War (1954-1962) was taking place. The story takes an interesting "What If" angle as it is hinted at that the Jackal was part of the group that assassinated the Dominican dictator Trujillo in 1961.

This film was remade in the 1997 as The Jackal with Bruce Willis, Richard Gere and Sidney Poitier. Both movies bear similarities in plot points though the main plot point is different in both films. It is interesting where the remake gives a nod and a wink to the original. I highly recommend you watch the Day of the Jackal.

#DayOfTheJackal #FredZinneman #FrederickForsyth #AlgerianWar #FrenchColonialHistory #FrenchHistory #EdwardFox #MichaelLonsdale #PoliticalThriller #20thCenturyHistory #History #Historia #Histoire #HistorySisco